Chain fastener device



Feb. 7, 1961 M. FALK, JR., ET AL CHAIN FASTENER DEVICE Filed Aug. 26, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 ATTORNE;

Feb. 7, 1961 -M. FALK, JR, ET AL 2,970,465

CHAIN FASTENER DEVICE Filed Aug. 26, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS United States Patent CHAIN FASTEN ER DEVICE Morris Falk, Jr., Highland Park, Ill., and Bernard S. Falk, Leominster, Mass., assignors to Independent Lock Company, Fitchburg, Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts Filed Aug. 26, 1958, Ser. No. 757,355

8 Claims. (CI. 70-93) This invention relates to a door chain fastener, and more particularly, to a door chain fastener of the type commonly used in conjunction with the conventional door lock assembly, .in order to provide an additional measure of security and privacy.

This invention further relates to a door chain fastener assembly having a key operable cylinder plug whereby the chain member is adapted to be released by key operation of the said plug.

Still more particularly, this invention relates to a door chain fastener as aforesaid whereby the user may selectively adapt the fastener device to permit disengagement of the chain from the outside upon operation of the cylinder plug by one having the correct key or, alternatively, to prevent disengagement of the chain even by one having the correct key.

Still more particularly, this invention relates to a device as aforesaid which may be installed in right or left handed doors without varying the manner of installation or the orientation of the parts of the device.

As is well known in the art, door chain fastener devices have long been used as a means of providing additional security in conjunction with the use of ordinary locking means, such asrim locks, night locks, and conventional cylinder lock constructions. Such devices have permitted the resident to open the door part way in order to observe the person desiring entrance, without compromising the security of the door since the chain assemblies heretofore used may be opened only from the inside. Such known structures have been very simple, comprising merely a chain anchored at one end on the door jamb and having aflixed to the free end, a hook or shackle, adapted alternatively to be secured or removed by someone within the residence from an anchoring bracket mounted on the door.

A well known danger involved in the use of such assemblies lies in the fact that if some accident befall the only inhabitant of a house or apartment, in which a chain fastener has been applied to the door, there is no way of gaining entrance short of breaking in' the door or destroying the chain lock assembly.

By the novel assembly herein described, we provide a chain fastener assembly having all the advantages aforesaid in permitting partial opening of the door for inspection of those seeking entrance, while at the same time optionally eliminating the hazardous condition which results from locking a door even to authorized persons. Furthermore, by an embodiment of our invention we provide a chain fastenerdevice which may optionally be used in a manner permitting authorized persons to disengage the chain assembly from outside of the door or, alternatively, to provide the maximum security by barring the door to all persons, authorized or unauthorized, as

previously described. Y

. Accordingly, it is an object of our invention to pro- .vide a chain fastener assembly wherein the chaining mem- 2,970,465' Fatented Feb. 7, 19161 outside of a door. A further object of our invention is to provide a chain fastener assembly which is operated and controlled by a cylinder plug, thereby permitting those persons having the correct key for the plug to disengage the chain member from the outside of the door, and resorting to the cylinder plug mechanism to maintain the chain anchoring clevis against displacement.

Still a further object of our invention is to provide a chain fastener assembly as aforesaid, wherein the occupant may alternatively position the chain member in a manner permitting those who are authorized to enter, to disengage the chain from the outside, or to position the chain member in a manner barring the door even to those authorized to enter.

her may be disengaged by authorized persons from the Another object of this invention is to provide a chain fastener assembly as aforesaid which may be mounted for either right hand or left hand doors, without change in the structure of the fastener assembly.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a chain fastener assembly combining the added security of chain fastener assemblies heretofore known with a safety factor not provided by such assemblies and which is easy and inexpensive to install.

To attain these objects and such further objects as may appear herein or be hereinafter pointed out, I make reference to the-accompanying drawing forming a part hereof, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a section of a door and jamb to which our device has been applied;

Figure 2 is a horizontal section taken on the lines 22 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is an end elevation of the embodiment shown in Figure 1 with the chain removed; I

Figure 4 is a side elevation, with parts broken away to show detail; I v

Figure 5 is a section taken on the lines 55 of Figure 4;

Figure 6 is an end elevation of an embodiment of our invention; v I

Figure 7 is a perspective view of the trunnion member and the split washer therefor;

Figure 8 is a plan view of a clevis pin member in accordance with an embodiment of our invention.

In accordance with our invention, a cylinder plug assembly 10 of any conventional type, such as the disk tumbler or pin tumbler type, having a key controlled operable plug 11 and back plate 12 is mounted through a transverse boring 13 formed in a door in the known manner. For this purpose, a nose plate 14 is placed against the front face of the mortise 13 in the form of a drill hole, and the assembly is inserted within the said mortise. Thev backing plate 12 is then placed against the rear face of the mortise 13 and draw bolts 15, having heads 16 bearing against the said back plate, are then tightened into the threaded apertures 17 on the cross bar 18.

The back plate 12 is additionally provided with inwardly directed bits 19 arranged, upon tightening of the bolts 15, to become embedded in the door surface, thereby preventing rotation of the mounted assembly relative to the door. 1

The key plug 11 of the cylinder is provided with a connecting bar 20, which bar is in turn engaged within a slot 21 formed in trunnion member 22. The'trunnion 22 is provided with an interior annular shoulder 23 and an adjacent bearing 24, the said shoulder 23 being arranged to lie against the back plate rear face portion 25 adjacent the bearing aperture 24a formed in the said back plate. The trunnion 22 is further provided with a projecting, generally rectangular crown 26 arranged, in the assembled position of the trunnion member 22, to extend rearwardly of the back plate 12. In this rearward position of the crown member 26, the clevis or chain retaining plate 27, having a generally rectangular aperture 28 formed there through, which aperture conforms generally to the crown portion 26,- is seated over the said crown portion, -to be keyed thereto. A split washer 2% seated in the-annular recess 29 of the trunnion 22 retains the said trunnion from inward displacement.

The clevis plate 27 thus keyed to the trunnion member is retained over the crown portion by means of a headed bolt 30 which is threaded within the aperture 31 of the said trunnion 22. The clevis plate 27 is, in addition, provided with a clevis pin slot 32, having a detent enlargement or lobe 32a, for purposes which will appear hereafter.

A chain 33 is anchored at one end 34 to the door jamb J by means of a bracket 35 by screws or other fasteners. The free end 36 of the said chain 33 is provided with a clevis pin member 37 comprising a central annular recess 38 wherein the last link of said chain is connected and to each side of said recess are spaced headed portions 39 and 40, for purpose which will appear hereafter. The pin 37 is provided adjacent the headed member 40 with a stud portion 41.

As will be seen from the illustrations, and particularly Figures 1 and 3, the crown portion 26 of the trunnion member is arranged to maintain the clevis plate, with the clevis slot 32, in a substantially horizontally disposed position when the key plug member is in the locked condition. In such locked condition, the headed member 39 may be inserted within the slot 32 in the clevis plate 27, thereby anchoring the free end of the chain 33 to the said clevis plate. When thus anchored, it will be readily recognized that the door may be partially opened and the chain member will provide security against the further opening of the door unless the pin 37 is removed from the slot 32 of the clevis plate 27 by the resident. The provision of lobe 32a in slot 32 prevents the pin 37 from creeping out of the slot 32 under the influence of vibration.

Key operation of the plug assembly will turn the clevis plate 27 through the operative connection afforded by the connecting bar iii and slot 21 of the trunion 22, and rotate the clevis plate clockwise in the orientation shown in Figure 1, thereby disposing the clevis plate slot 32 substantially vertically, and permitting the clevis pin 37 to drop free of any connection with the door member, since the pin 37 is loosely fitted within the said slot 32.

In another embodiment of our invention, we may disable the disengagement of the chain by key operation. For this purpose, when it is desired that the chain assembly be disabled from disengagement from the outside, the clevis pin assembly is reversed and the headed member 40 inserted within the slot 32. When thus inserted, the stud member 41, extending adjacent the said headed member 40, will lie within an offset substantially diametrically extended slot 42 formed across the back plate 12 of the assembly. In this position, it will be noted that the clevis plate 27 is keyed against rotary movement directly to the back plate assembly 12 by the clevis pin 37, and is thereby prevented from rotation even by one having a key which operatively fits the cylinder plug assembly (see Fig. 4).

The embodiment of our invention shown in Figure 6 employs a generally circular clevis plate 27a having opposed slots 32d and 32a disposed at approximately 180 displacement one to the other. Each of the slots is formed with lobes 32a as before described. The use of such symmetrical clevis plate will eliminate the necessity of handing or inverting the assembly when used for right hand or left hand doors since in one case the slot 32d may be used as the clevis pin anchoring point, and in the other the slot 322 as such anchoring point, while retaining the key plug erect with relation to the pin or disk tumbler elements.

; Wehave disclosed in Figure 8 a further embodiment of our invention involving the use of a clevis pin member 37a intended to prevent accidental dead bolting of the chain assembly. 6

In accordance with this embodiment, the slot 42 may be eliminated from the back plate member and the head portion 37a engaged with the slot of the clevis plate as heretofore described.

In this embodiment, the chain member may always be detached by key actuation of the plug assembly, as heretofore described.

It will also be observed that the lobes 32a, wherever used, facilitate operation of the draw bolts 15 when key operation permits alignment of the lobes with the axis of the bolts, without removal of the clevis'plate 27 and the clevis plate and trunnion therefor may be permanently assembled on the crown.

By the above described assembly, we have provided a chain fastener device incorporating all the desirable features of chain fasteners heretofore known and the additional features of permissive operability from the outside. Moreover, the embodiment of our invention as heretofore described permits use on both right hand and left hand doors, without alteration of the installing instructions or other reorientation of the parts.

Moreover, the chain fastener device herein described may optionally be used either as a maximum security device, preventing disengagement from the chain from the outside of the door or, alternatively, may be used to permit disengagement of the chain from the outside of the door only by persons having a key to fit the cylinder plug.

Having thus described our invention and illustrated its use, what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A door chain fastener having a key operable assembly arranged to be mounted on a door or the like with the keyway exposed at one side of the door and a back plate member exposed at the other side of the door, said fastener including a key plug, a clevis plate coupled to said plug and mounted adjacent said back plate, a chain having an end arranged to be anchored to a door jamb and a free end having aflixed thereto a clevis pin member, said back plate and clevis plate including retaining portions positioned to register in the locked position of said plug, said clevis pin member including complemental portions to said back plate and clevis plate retaining portions arranged to be optionally engage able with said clevis plate retaining portion alone or with said clevis plate retaining portion and said back plate retaining portion, said pin member in the latter said position serving to prevent relative motion of said back plate and clevis plate, said clevis plate retaining portion being arranged in the former said engaged position to release the said pin upon rotation of the said plug.

2. A fastener in accordance with claim 1 wherein said clevis plate retaining portion comprises a slot defined by said clevis plate, of a size arranged loosely to receive said pin member.

3. A fastener in accordance with claim 2 wherein said back plate retaining portion comprises a recess defined by the walls of said plate and arranged in the locked position of said plug to register with said clevis plate slot.

4. A fastener in accordance with claim 2 wherein said clevis pin member is affixed at a central portion to said free end of said chain and is provided with headed portions extending to both sides of said chain, which portions are arranged to be received within said slot, one of said headed portions including an outwardly extending stud arranged in the locked position of said plug to lie within said retaining portion of said back plate when said headed portion having said stud is inserted within said slot.

5. A fastener in accordance with claim 1 wherein said clevis plate retaining portioncomprises a pair of slots defined by said plate, one of slots being angularly displaced approximately 180 from the other.

6. A door chain fastener having a key operable assembly arranged to be mounted on a door or the like with the keyway exposed at one side of the door and a back plate member exposed at the other side of the door and having a cut out portion defining a channel, said fastener including a key plug, a clevis plate coupled to said plug and mounted adjacent said back plate, the walls of said clevis plate defining a slot extending inwardly from the periphery thereof, said slot and channel lying in registry in the locked position of said plug, and a chain member having an end arranged to be anchored to a door jamb and a free end having afi'ixed thereto a clevis pin member loosely slidably engageable with said slot of said clevis plate, said pin including a projection adapted optionally to be seated in said channel when said pin member is engaged with said slot whereby said pin and projection coact with said slot and channel respectively to prevent relative rotation of said plates.

7. A fastener in accordance with claim 6 wherein said clevis plate is provided with a second slot angularly displaced approximately 180 from said first mentioned slot, and said channel is of a length to register with both of said slots in the locked position of said plug, whereby said fastener may be used without alteration for right and left handed doors.

8. A door chain fastener consisting of a key operable mortice lock plug cylinder assembly adapted to be mounted without alteration on right or left handed doors with the keyway therefor exposed on the outside face of said door, and said cylinder assembly including laterally directed draw bolt receiving ears, a bitted back plate arranged to be nested against the inside face of the door including draw bolt mounting means and draw bolts mounted on said mounting means cooperating with the draw bolt ears of the lock plug cylinder assembly to cause said bitted back plate to bite into and hold the said assembly against rotation relative to the door, a trunnion rotatably mounted on said back plate, a bar extending from said lock plug cylinder assembly and separably connected to said trunnion, said bar being keyed to said trunnion and adapted to rotate the latter on operation of said lock plug cylinder assembly, said trunnion having keyed thereto a clevis plate, said clevis plate being disposed on the inside face of the door, the walls of said clevis plate defining a slot displaceable approximately to each side of said trunnion, a chain having an end adapted to be anchored to a door jamb, and a free end arranged to be loosely slidably received in said slot of said clevis plate.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,075,015 Beaumont Mar. 30, 1937 2,724,257 Segal Nov. 22, 1955 FOREIGN PATENTS 338,136 Germany June 13, 1921 

